Anti-Qing: Starting from the Jintian Uprising

Chapter 259: Eight-Nation Alliance!

Chapter 259 The Eight-Nation Alliance!

Needless to say, the first victory and the second defeat were fought on the Tang Dynasty's home ground, so both logistical supply and troop replenishment were much easier than those of the foreign expeditionary forces that traveled far and wide.

As long as the war situation reaches a stalemate, it will be the Tang Dynasty that will persevere to the end.

The second win and two losses are also easy to understand.

As a founding monarch and entrepreneur, Li Yi can ensure that he can mobilize every army under his command at will, and make each unit cooperate with each other and work together.

But it’s a different story with the foreigners.

To put it nicely, they are called a coalition, but in reality they are just a group of rabble living together.

With so many armies from so many countries gathered together and speaking different languages, do you expect them to be able to achieve unified command and be able to act as one?
It’s just a daydream!
With elite troops under the command of as light as an arm against a loosely organized mob, the outcome is obvious.

When the battle situation is favorable, they may be able to unite and work together.

But as long as the battle situation suffers a slight setback, there will be no psychological pressure at all to sell out teammates.

Very differentiated!
The third win and three losses are also easy to understand.

The Tang Dynasty is more popular than the Qing Dynasty. At the very least, Li Yi can guarantee that when the Tang Dynasty is invaded, the people of the Tang Dynasty will not help the invaders push carts and transport food like the people of the Qing Dynasty.

This is actually quite strange. China has experienced many invasions throughout the dynasties, and wars with foreign races have occurred from time to time.

But very few people stood on the side of the invaders and helped them fight against their own court.

Well, traitors and ordinary people are two different things.

Take the late Song Dynasty and the late Ming Dynasty as examples.

Although there were many traitors who defected to foreign races in search of wealth and glory, most of the people stood on the side of their own court.

At most, we can just watch from the sidelines.

Very few people would help the invaders transport food to attack their own court, or even cheer for the invaders' victory.

It is really outrageous that the Qing Dynasty could achieve this achievement, especially in the imperial city.

However, this also shows how unpopular the Qing Dynasty's rule was.

Upon hearing this, Li Yi nodded in agreement.

"Mr. Zuo is right."

"In this battle, the Tang Dynasty will surely win!"

Upon hearing this, all the generals spoke up in agreement.

"Yes, our Tang Dynasty will win!"

"They are just a bunch of foreigners. What is there to be afraid of? It's not like our Tang Dynasty has never fought against them before."

"As long as the foreigners dare to come, we will make sure they never return!"

"..."

After talking about three wins and three losses and unifying their thoughts, Li Yi turned to Li Liang who was standing beside him and said.

"Li Liang, please report the specific strength and composition of the foreign expeditionary force that is invading this time."

Upon hearing this, Li Liang took out a report and said.

"Your Majesty, my Lords."

"According to the report from the spies that the Tang Dynasty deployed in Southeast Asia."

"The foreign expeditionary force that invaded this time is not simply the army of a certain country."

"Instead, it was the Eight-Nation Alliance led by Britain and composed of eight countries including France, the Netherlands, Spain, Portugal, the Kingdom of Sardinia, Austria, and Prussia."

"In terms of military strength, Britain mobilized four regiments to participate in the war, one of which was a local regiment from the UK, and three were colonial regiments mobilized from India, with a total strength of 5,000 people."

"France mobilized three regiments to participate in the war, one native regiment and two colonial regiments, with a total strength of about three to four thousand people."

"Portugal, Sardinia, Austria, Prussia and other four countries have each mobilized a regiment of troops from their homeland to participate in the war, totaling about 5,000 people."

"In addition to sending a regiment from their homeland to join the war, the Netherlands and Spain also gathered troops in Manila and Batavia respectively to prepare for the war."

"Among them, Batavia mobilized colonial troops, local soldiers, and mercenaries, totaling nearly 7,000 people."

"Manila mobilized colonial troops, native soldiers, and mercenaries, totaling nearly 10,000 people."

"If you add up all the troops of the Eight-Nation Alliance that attacked this time, the total number of troops is about 3.3."

Well, although this number sounds exaggerated, if you think about it carefully, you will find that it is not exaggerated.

Of these 3.3 men, 1.7 were assembled by the Dutch and Spanish in Manila and Batavia.

The Netherlands and Spain colonized East Asia for so many years, and they were still able to recruit tens of thousands of people.

Of the remaining 1.6, nearly were transferred from India by Britain and France.

Well, France also had colonies in India back then, although not as big as Britain’s, but it did exist.

The remaining nine thousand were the real white soldiers from Europe.

And it wasn't just one country that contributed 9,000, but eight countries together contributed 9,000.

On average, there are just over a thousand per country.

After all, they are a great power, so they should be unable to mobilize such a small force.

After listening to Li Liang's report, Li Yi nodded slightly, and then continued to ask.

"The invading Eight-Nation Alliance had 3.3 troops."

"Then how many warships are there in their fleet? What are their tonnages and categories?"

Although the invading Eight-Nation Alliance had a large number of troops, Li Yi was not particularly worried.

As long as they dare to land, there are 3.3 more people coming, even if the number is doubled, Li Yi is confident that he can wipe them all out on land.

For Li Yi, the only thing among the Eight-Nation Alliance that really deserves his attention is their fleet.

The current naval power of the Tang Dynasty is really not good enough.

In the coastal waters where the wind and waves are smaller, we may be able to gain the upper hand by relying on our numerical advantage.

But there is really nothing we can do in the ocean!
Now in the Tang Dynasty Navy, the most powerful combat sequence is those rocket sampans.

However, these rocket sampans are simply sampans, which have very poor ability to resist wind and waves, and may be of some use near the coast.

But if they are placed in the open ocean, even without the enemy targeting them, all the boats will be capsized and become food for fish as soon as a gust of wind and waves comes.

Since the Tang Dynasty conquered Guangzhou, Li Yi has actually invested a lot in the navy.

Over the years, he invested two to three million silver dollars in the shipyard to hire workers, build ships, and reward innovation.

Considering the purchasing power of silver in this era, it can be said to be massive.

But it's no use!
Building a ship takes time.

The time required from the start of ship construction to completion is generally measured in years.

Even though the Tang Dynasty had already begun to use steam drying technology to dry wood, it saved the time required to dry the shipbuilding wood in the shade.

That's no use!

There are only a few warships built by the Tang Dynasty’s shipyards now, and most of them are technology verification ships. It is really hard to say how much actual combat power they have.

Coupled with the gap in personnel quality between the two sides.

Once the Tang Dynasty's navy faced the foreigners' ocean-going fleet, it would be extremely difficult to win.

Li Liang heard this and spoke.

"In reply to your Majesty, according to the statistics of the Military Intelligence Department."

"The fleet of the Eight-Nation Alliance that invaded this time was extremely large."

"Among them, Britain mobilized five third-class sailing battleships from its homeland, and France mobilized three third-class sailing battleships and two fourth-class sailing battleships."

"In addition, Britain mobilized seven sailing battleships from India, including three third-level ships and four fourth-level ships." "France mobilized five sailing battleships from India, including two third-level ships and three fourth-level ships."

"The Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sardinia, Austria, Prussia and other countries mostly have three third-level sailing battleships."

"Batavia and Manila provided a total of six third-level sailing battleships and nine fourth-level battleships."

"In addition, there are armed merchant ships mobilized from India, Batavia, Manila and other places to ensure the logistics of the coalition forces. The total number is about 120 to 130, and the number is still increasing."

"That is to say, the main fleet of the Eight-Nation Alliance probably has 37 third-class sailing battleships, 18 fourth-class sailing battleships, and more than armed merchant ships."

"The total number is about 200!"

"Among them, nearly thirty warships were equipped with steam engines and propellers to assist navigation."

As early as 1807, American inventor Robert Fulton invented the steamboat.

In 1839, steam-powered ships using propellers were already in existence.

In just a few years, by 1857, the world's first steam ironclad ship, the Glory, would be put into service.

In this day and age, steamships have already been used on a large scale.

A considerable number of ocean-going ships sailing across the Atlantic Ocean have been equipped with steam engines and propellers to assist navigation.

Of course, a considerable part of this refers to mainland Europe.

As for the colonies in India and East Asia, most of them still used old sailing ships as power.

Hearing this, Li Yi nodded slightly and continued to ask.

"Who led the Eight-Nation Alliance?"

Li Liang heard this and spoke.

"The commander-in-chief of the Eight-Nation Alliance was the British Earl Elgin, the deputy commander was the Frenchman Gros, and the commander of the naval fleet was the British Edward Hobart Seymour..."

Li Yi nodded and said.

"This is all the information our army currently has."

"According to the estimates of the Military Intelligence Department, in half a month to a month at most, the Eight-Nation Alliance will move north from Manila to the coast of Guangdong."

The reason why an accurate time cannot be given is that the Tang army has no idea how long the Eight-Nation Alliance plans to rest in Batavia and Manila.

Therefore, only an approximate prediction range can be given.

Upon hearing this, the generals' faces turned solemn.

Li Yi continued to give instructions.

"Next, all units in the Guangdong-Guangxi War Zone, including the naval fleets, must enter a state of combat readiness."

"Actively prepare for war and be ready to welcome the invasion of foreigners."

"In addition, starting today, the arsenal will begin working overtime in three shifts, with workers taking breaks while machines continue to operate, to produce military equipment at the fastest speed."

"Send a message to all the provinces to immediately prepare food, medicine, salt, sugar and other war supplies and store them in warehouses for use."

Upon hearing this, all the generals stood up and clasped their fists.

"Yes! I obey your command!"

After he finished speaking, Li Yi continued.

"I will issue another royal decree to call on the people along the coast of Guangdong and Guangxi to form militias based on villages or clans, and to build strongholds to protect themselves from attacks by foreigners."

"Prepare your weapons and swords. If the foreigners come to attack, kill them first."

"And I'm offering a reward to the people. If you behead one foreign head, you'll get 100 silver dollars. If you behead 100 foreign heads, your village or clan will be exempted from agricultural taxes for one year. If you behead 100 foreign heads, you'll be exempted from agricultural taxes for 10 years. If there's a village that can behead 1,000 foreign heads, I'll exempt them from agricultural taxes for one day as long as the Tang Dynasty exists."

"This order should be disseminated throughout the country, even within the Qing Dynasty."

Next, the Tang Dynasty was destined to focus its main efforts on the Pearl River Delta to prevent foreigners from advancing inland along the Pearl River and invading Guangzhou.

However, Guangdong and Guangxi do not have only one Pearl River Delta.

If the foreigners were unable to deal with the main force of the Tang army in the Pearl River Delta, they would inevitably choose to use their mobility advantage to randomly land on the coast of Guangdong to harass and loot.

In this situation, even if the Tang army wanted to march by land, it would be too late to provide assistance.

If Li Yi did not want the area to be damaged too severely, he could only learn from Zhu Yuanzhang and let the people along the coast of Guangdong find their own solutions, give full play to their subjective initiative, form militias, and build strongholds to protect themselves.

As long as these villages can hold out for a while, reinforcements from the Tang army will arrive.

With the joint efforts from both inside and outside, it goes without saying that the fate of the foreign troops who landed was disastrous.

The reason why the decree was also issued to the Qing Dynasty territory.

Li Yi's main purpose was to cause trouble for foreigners and the Qing Dynasty.

Today, the collusion between foreigners and the Qing Dynasty is an established fact.

If the foreigners cannot defeat Guangdong and Guangxi after a long battle, they will certainly choose to go to the Qing-controlled areas for supplies.

At that time, once any foreigners land, the reward offered by Li Yi will come into play.

Although the Qing Dynasty colluded with foreigners, it did not mean that the people under the rule of the Qing Dynasty would also lean towards foreigners.

As long as there are a few heroes who covet the rewards from the Tang Dynasty and do a few things, it will be enough to cause trouble for the Qing Dynasty and the foreigners.

If the whole of China were like Sanyuanli everywhere, Li Yi didn't believe that those foreigners would still be able to be so arrogant.

Of course, Li Yi doesn’t just offer rewards, he actually pays when the time comes.

As long as you can bring me the head, I will give you a reward.

If there really was a village that was willing to bring a thousand foreign heads to claim the reward, Li Yi would really be willing to completely exempt them from agricultural taxes.

Of course, for a village with such strong fighting power, it may not be possible to collect taxes even if one wants to.

Upon hearing this, all the generals clasped their fists in agreement.

Li Yi continued to talk about strategic deployment.

After a long time, the meeting finally ended.

The Tang army generals retreated, and Li Yi also returned to the backyard of the palace.

After returning to his room, Li Yi called Zhang Tai and spoke.

"Please arrange my schedule. In the next few days, I will visit the arsenal, shipyard, military camps of various units of our army, and the navy's water camp, etc."

The war is about to begin, and people are inevitably in panic.

At this time, if Li Yi came forward, it would boost morale to the greatest extent.

As a founding monarch, he still has some prestige.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Tai immediately clasped his fists.

"I understand the humble position!"

Li Yi waved his hand to signal Zhang Tai to leave, then rubbed his eyebrows.

Li Yi knew that with the Tang Dynasty's advantage in land forces, there was a high probability that they would not lose this battle.

But the navy is really lame.

It’s not easy to win!

Unable to help but sigh, Li Yi prepared to take a rest.

He is indeed very worried now, but there is no use worrying. Instead of worrying, he might as well go to bed early.

Only after a good rest can you cheer up and deal with the next situation!